I don't free feed. Loki is a way healthy 7+ pounds and if I left food down he would not eat it anyway. In fact, if I do leave it down I still don't consider it to be free feeding because he still doesn't graze. He never ate 3 times a day and lost interest in his morning meal around 8 months old. Now he is almost a year and he is a little more interested in breakfast. Normally I put about 1/4 of what i feed him into one of those treat dispensing toys and let him kick it around. Then he eats dinner around 4:00 when i get home from work. Even if I try to HAND feed him he won't take it - he just stays full from his food. He only gets really hungry once a day. Loki also gets training treats during the day, but not too many.
Your dog will really let you know. If your pup is losing interest then it's not hungry. Easy enough. Unless you have problems with hypogycemia or health problems it's fine. Use your judgement, and if you have any questions ask your vet. |